Challenge A: The First Five Weeks

{Disclaimer:  This post is about our experience with our local chapter of Classical Conversations Challenge A.  Each child, tutor and class is different.}

Challenge A: Homeschooling Through Middle School and Beyond (my first post on the subject)

Just yesterday, Sam finished his fifth week of Challenge A.  He and I were both very nervous-excited before the start.

What would the (at home) workload look like?
Would it be too much work?
Would he lose some of his homeschool independence as he adjusted (as in, will I have to help more)?
Would it matter that he had not participated in the younger Classical Conversation programs (Foundations and Essentials)?
Would he hate it?
Would I hate it?
Would I be able to keep up enough to help him?
Would he make good friends?
Would we be glad we chose this path?

Well, if you care to know, here are the answers:

What would the (at home) workload look like?

In Challenge A, they suggest allowing for one hour per subject per day. There are six skills/subjects.

Latin A (Grammar).  The Henle Latin books are used.  Sam's work at home includes memorizing vocabulary and declensions (think "conjugating" nouns for the purpose of identifying their function in a sentence, verbs are also conjugated), learning Latin rules, completing exercises, and checking his answers.

Literature, Discussion & Persuasive Writing (Exposition and Composition).  While Sam is reading the one novel, he is writing about the book he previously read using The Lost Tools of Writing curriculum.  At home, Sam works though the workbook as it guides him in asking a "should" question about a character in the book.  For example, "Should Edmund have gone with the White Witch?" Over several weeks, a simple persuasive essay develops.  The simple version is built upon each consecutive book/process.

Geography (Debate).  Each day, Sam practices drawing a different part of the world.  He started with Canada and Greenland.  Beginning by tracing, he moved on to free hand and labeling of provinces, capitals and major bodies of water/mountain ranges.  By the end of the year, they should be able to draw the world (free hand) and label all the countries, capitals, large bodies of water, etc.

Natural Science and Biology (Research).  Sam's tutor assigns a topic to research.  Sam has to research the topic, take notes, write a rough draft (5-10 sentences), note sources, and draw a diagram in his science journal.  He then copies the good draft into the journal as well as the Works Cited, using proper AMA format.  In class, he presents his research to his class and they provide feedback on his public speaking.

Clear Reasoning/Apologetics (Rhetoric). The class is reading It Couldn't Just Happen.  Each week, they are assigned a chapter and answer comprehension questions about it (about 3-4 questions per day).  He also studies the definitions of concepts/topics (anything from "What does the theory of the greenhouse effect suggest?" to "Who was Francesco Redi?" to "What are proteins?") so he can compete in a Jeopardy-type game later on in the semester.

Mathematics (Logic).  In class, the tutor reviews challenging concepts having to do with 7th/8th grade math.  Individually, each student works at their own level/pace using their family's choice of math curriculum.  So Sam's math looks just like it did last year- new concepts, math problems, and tests.  We use Saxon.

Would it be too much work?

The "one hour per day per subject" estimation was one of the things that made Sam and I a little nervous.  That felt like a lot of time.  Thankfully, Math takes about an hour but the other subjects take closer to a half hour per day and even that fluctuates depending on the assignments.

He's able to get the majority of his work done in the morning and finishes up after lunch (roughly 9:00 am-noon and 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm, with occasional breaks to deal with animals, play with his sisters, work on his laundry, etc.)

Would he lose some of his homeschool independence as he adjusted (as in, will I have to help more)?

My experience has been that my kids start out needing only an hour or two of my time per day (think kindergarten).  That time frame lengthens and seems to peak around 4th/5th grade. But then!  They are able to take over more of their schooling and the actual 1:1 time needed begins to decrease a bit. Sam had been taking over more of his schooling (with plenty of supervision, just not hand-holding).

I expected that he might need additional help while he transitioned to a new program.  I was hoping that it wouldn't take too much time away from his sisters' needs and the household's.  Frankly, I thought the workload might be hard therefore he'd need lots of coaxing throughout the day to complete it (in addition to me helping with it).

We are so proud of Sam.  He has really taken responsibility for his work and getting it done in a timely fashion.  He even sets an alarm in the morning!  I attribute this to the positive peer pressure/expectations that the rest of his class is working hard, too, and he wants to move forward with them.

Would it matter that he had not participated in the younger Classical Conversation programs (Foundations and Essentials)?

So far, Sam doesn't seem to be at a disadvantage.  I attribute this to having used Sonlight all these years- an excellent curriculum (still my favorite and what the girls use).

Would he hate it?

When asked about Challenge, he says things like, "It's hard," and, "I hate Latin," but when it's just us, he leans against my shoulder and thanks me for "letting" him do Challenge.  The boy loves it.

Would I hate it?

I don't.  So far, I'm very impressed.

Would I be able to keep up enough to help him?

Before the year started, I worked ahead (about 14 lessons) in Latin just to give myself a head start in being able to help him.  He did need some help at first but now is working well on his own.  I know it would be a good idea if I kept up with him but I'm not sure that's practical for me.  In the other subjects, there is little I need to do to keep up- so far, anyway!

Would he make good friends?

His class is amazing!  There are eight in his class and they are great kids.  Sam has already starting developing sweet friendships with them.

Would we be glad we chose this path?

I am incredibly grateful that this is an option for us and for Sam. Knowing that he will be able to stick with this program throughout high school gives me peace.  He is being challenged and he loves it.

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Challenge A: Homeschooling through Middle School & Beyond

One of the questions we often get asked when folks find out we homeschool is, "Will you homeschool through high school?"  For many years, our answer was that we didn't know.  We planned on doing school at home through middle school but beyond that, we weren't sure.  It seemed like SO far away. And, as the main homeschooling parent, a bit daunting even though I knew my husband could help with the higher maths and sciences if needed.

Our plan for a long time was to just see how it went.  We are blessed to have a good, Christian private school nearby and figured that if our kids really expressed interest and could make a very good case for going AND if we felt peace about the idea, it was something we might pursue for high school.

Fast forward a number of years and we found ourselves in a different place.  Homeschooling into middle school and beyond didn't seem so intimidating because each year, we were doing it- taking on the higher subjects and enjoying them.  While it is still nice to know there is a private school option available, their tuition is impressive and we didn't want to be that financially stretched.  Also, our oldest was not asking (ever) to go to "big" school.

There is a thriving homeschool community in our area with many options for co-ops and activities.  We participate in some but mostly center our days around life at home.  I knew that as our kids got older, there were different resources out there for them but time snuck up on me and I kept thinking I had time to look into them.  Enter in the providence of God.  At a birthday party, I enjoyed catching up with a friend whose older children participated in the Classical Conversations Challenge Program- a supplement to homeschooling middle and high schoolers.  If Sam was going to join the program, he should start the very next fall- talk about timing!

Excited about the possibility, I went home, scoured the website, discussed it with Sam and my husband, visited a community day (with Sam) and filled out the application.  Sam was excited.  I was excited.  It seemed like the perfect fit/transition/supplement to our middle school homeschool experience.  Knowing it carries a child through high school was an added bonus.

In a nutshell, the program goes like this:  

~ The parent is still the teacher- the one responsible for the child's education, for grading and setting assignment expectations.

~ One day a week, the student attends community day in which they are taught six subjects by a trained tutor in a class of up to 12 students at a similar grade/age level.

~ At community day, they receive their assignments for the week to complete at home.

~ The cost was slightly higher than what we were already spending on curriculum through Sonlight.

We were all a little nervous about starting even though we felt good about the decision.  For those of you who are interested, I'll share more on this and how it's going so far in my next post on the topic.

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